''Of Time and the River'' (subtitled ''A Legend of Man's Hunger in his Youth'') is a 1935 novel by American author

Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist of the early 20th century. Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels as well as many short stories, dramatic works, and novellas. He is known for mixing highly origin ...

. It is a fictionalized autobiography, using the name Eugene Gant for Wolfe's, detailing the protagonist's early and mid-twenties, during which time the character attends Harvard University, moves to New York City and teaches English at a university there, and travels overseas with the character Francis Starwick. Francis Starwick was based on Wolfe's friend, playwright Kenneth Raisbeck. The novel was published by

Scribners Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

and edited by

Maxwell Perkins William Maxwell Evarts "Max" Perkins (September 20, 1884 – June 17, 1947) was an American book editor, best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Thomas Wolfe. Early life and e ...

. ''

The Good Child's River ''The Good Child's River'' is a novel by Thomas Wolfe. A formerly lost novel, it was first published in 1991, 53 years after Wolfe's death. The book was found, edited, and produced by Suzanne Stutman, a Wolfe scholar who also edited the 2003 book ...

'' was meant to be part of ''Of Time and the River'' but most of it was never typed up from the three handwritten ledgers which Suzanne Stutman uncovered in the William B. Wisdom Thomas Wolfe Collection of Harvard's

Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of Art ...

manuscript collection. Unlike Wolfe's major novels, ''The Good Child's River'' doesn't include either Eugene Gant or George Webber, Wolfe's fictional counterparts, but instead focuses on Webber's lover, Esther Jack (based on

Aline Bernstein Aline Bernstein (December 22, 1880 – September 7, 1955) was an American set designer and costume designer. She and Irene Lewisohn founded the Museum of Costume Art. Bernstein was the lover, patron, and muse of novelist Thomas Wolfe. Early life ...

). Bernstein made many notes about her life for Wolfe, who fashioned the material into ''The Good Child's River''. A

Howard Rodman Howard A. Rodman is a screenwriter, author and professor. He is the former President of the Writers Guild of America, West, professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, alumnus of Telluride Associatio ...

adaptation of this story was presented in the ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in t ...

'' on 4 October 1953, starring Thomas Mitchell as William Oliver Gant. The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

composer

John McCabe John McCabe may refer to: *John McCabe (composer) (1939–2015), British composer and classical pianist *John McCabe (writer) (1920–2005), Shakespearean scholar and biographer *Christopher John McCabe Christopher John McCabe (born 20 Oc ...

's Fourth Symphony is subtitled ''Of Time and the River''. The process of editing ''Of Time and the River'' was featured heavily in the 2016 film Genius.

Excerpt

"At that instant he saw, in one blaze of light, an image of unutterable conviction, the reason why the artist works and lives and has his being—the reward he seeks—the only reward he really cares about, without which there is nothing. It is to snare the spirits of mankind in nets of magic, to make his life prevail through his creation, to wreak the vision of his life, the rude and painful substance of his own experience, into the congruence of blazing and enchanted images that are themselves the core of life, the essential pattern whence all other things proceed, the kernel of eternity."

References

External links

*
''Of Time and the River'' (full text)
* http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/thomas-wolfe/of-time-and-river.htm * http://themoderatevoice.com/18304/guest-book-review-of-time-and-the-river-by-thomas-wolfe/ {{Thomas Wolfe 1935 American novels Novels by Thomas Wolfe American novels adapted into television shows